Buell Neidlinger

by Scott Yanow Throughout his career, bassist Buell Neidlinger has played such a wide variety of styles that one can only conclude he can play anything. He started out studying classical cello and also learned trumpet and piano before settling on bass. After moving to New York in 1955, Neidlinger played with Dixieland and mainstream bands and such top players as Rex Stewart, Vic Dickenson, Coleman Hawkins and Eddie Condon. The same year he joined Cecil Taylors Quartet, a unit that only worked sporadically during the next six years. Neidlinger was certainly inspired by the challenging music, making several records with Taylor, including a Candid set (reissued in expanded form by Mosaic) that was originally put out under his leadership. He also worked with the Jimmy Giuffre 3, Steve Lacy, Gil Evans, Freddie Redd, and six months as an accompanist for Tony Bennett. In 1962, Neidlinger started a two-year stint as a member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra; by the mid-60s he was a busy studio musician in New York, and during the next ten years, he played everything from fusion with Jean-Luc Ponty and Frank Zappa rock dates to classical sessions with Stravinsky. After moving to Los Angeles (where he has worked in the studios up to the present day), Neidlinger formed a musical partnership with tenor saxophonist Marty Krystall. On their K2B2 label, Neidlinger and Krystall have recorded with a jazz-oriented bluegrass group (Buellgrass), some post-bop, a Thelonious Monk tribute, and remarkable interpretations of Herbie Nichols music (Blue Chopsticks) that features Buell on cello with a string trio and two horns.